The War Room: A large explosion rocked Kyiv early today as the Russians claim to have carried out a missile attack on a Ukrainian tank factory. The Russians are demonstrating that even after pulling back their troops they can hit any target they want.

  Missiles also hit a shopping center in Kharkiv today and the Ukrainians say they shot down four cruise missile targeted at Lviv.

  The Russians are also shelling the southeast Donbas region in advanced of an expected renewed invasion.

  Since the Russian pullback, the bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Many had been shot to death, showing signs that they had been executed.

  As many as 20,000 civilians may have been killed in the southern port city of Mariupol as Ukrainian forces hang on while getting pounded by the Russians. The city is reduced to rubble, but the mayor says about 120,000 people remain in the city out of a pre-war population of 450,000.

  Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky admitted to CNN that between 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in the invasion and about 10,000 more wounded.

  The Pentagon announced that it confirmed that the Russian guided missile cruiser was hit and eventually sunk by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles. The Russians claimed it was an accidental fire that reach an ammunition magazine.

  The Russian government, which still has the nerve to criticize what other countries do, sent a letter to the US State Department formally protesting the US shipment of weapons to Ukraine, warning of “unpredictable consequences” should the weapon shipments continue. The note came just as the US announced an additional $800 million aid package, including Mi-17 helicopters, 155 mm howitzers, and 300 more Switchblade anti-armor drones.

Stake in the Heart: Text messages involving efforts to overturn the 2020 election sent to President Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have been released to the press, revealing the inner working of Republican thinking at the time. The messages from Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas at first encourage Meadows and the President to keep fighting, then warned them off.

  Lee texted to Meadows on November 7th offering his “unequivocal support for you to exhaust every legal and constitutional remedy at your disposal to restore Americans faith in our elections.” This, of course, was on the basis of no evidence of fraud, only Trump’s claim.

  Roy wrote to Meadows, “We need ammo. We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend.”

    Their support began to waver as Trump and his  close circle pressed their claims of fraud without proof.

  Roy warned Meadows, “We must urge the President to tone down the rhetoric, and approach the legal challenge firmly, intelligently and effectively without resorting to throwing wild desperate haymakers or whipping his base into a conspiracy frenzy.”

  On November 19^th Roy texted, “Hey brother – we need substance or people are going to break.”

  Still lacking proof of fraud, on December 16th, Lee asked Meadows for guidance: “If you want senators to object, we need to hear from you on that ideally getting some guidance on what arguments to raise.”

  On January 3^rd, responding to a Trump plan to appoint alternate slates of electors to make him President, Lee texted Meadows, “I only know that this will end badly for the President unless we have the Constitution on our side.”

  Roy texted Meadows, “We’re driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic.” 

The Obit Page: Actress Liz Sheridan, a veteran of stage, film and television best known for playing Jerry’s Seinfeld’s mother on the sitcom “Seinfeld,” has died at home in New York City at age 93. 

  Sheridan wrote a book about when she was starting out in New York and had an affair with the then unknown actor James Dean. She said they used to check into hotels  as “Mr. and Mrs. James Dean.” She wrote, “Back in those days when nice girls didn’t, I did.” 

The Spin Rack:  Under pressure to do something about gasoline prices, President Biden has opened more public land to drilling, but the result would be years away. — Donald Trump has endorsed the author and venture capitalist JD Vance in the Republican primary for senator from Ohio. Vance wrote the bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy.” — Richard Moore, who was convicted of murder in South Carolina for killing a store clerk for a sack of cash, has chosen to be executed by firing squad. 

Civilized Man: Tesla founder Elon Musk, who’s believed to be the world’s richest man, said at the annual TED technology conference that his bid to buy the social media platform Twitter “is not a way to make money,” but rather, “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”

  Money has gone to the man’s head.

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